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Although it was a bit more cloudy today, and more sultry, the matches were satisfactorily complete with nary a drop of rain - quite unusual!

Three ranges were fired: the Des Burke at 600 yards, the Long Branch and Lt. Governor's Final at 1000. These contributed to a very large number of aggregates, too numerous to list one by one. The lists are here for you to peruse. I have included the more important ones - the full detailed results will be printed in booklet form and mailed to all competitors in a few weeks. If you were not at Borden but would like a copy, please contact the ORA Secretary.

The two winners in the Lt. Governor's repeated their successes of last year: Leo D'Amour in F Class and Roger Romses in TR. In the other matches and aggregates, the names of Bob Raymond (F) and Fazal Mohideen (TR) cropped up very frequently. Members of the large cadet contingent also shot very well, giving the senior shooters a good run for their money. The summary of awards, also attached, attests to this.

All in all, it was a good shoot, with no major problems. Now we look forward to the DCRA starting in a few days at Connaught. If nothing else, let us hope the weather is a wonderfully dry and comfortable as it was this weekend!

Day 2:

This was another very fine day, cooler than yesterday with a stiffer breeze. All in all, it was a very good day for shooting! Four individual matches were fired, with the aggregate making up the first part of the Lt. Governor's.

The score lists are attached, so I won't repeat too many of the details. The item of business remaining from yesterday was the tie shoot for the Banker's at 500 yards. Fazal Mohideen won this with a handy 25.5, from Tony Betts who had 25.3.

The matches today started at 300 yards with the Tait. Four TR scores of 50.7 are tied: Peter Westlake, Fazal Mohideen, Roger Romses and UK Cadet Jonathan Rudge. Bob Raymond won the F Class with 50.6.

Bob also took the F Class in the Brassey at 500 yards, scoring 49.8. On the TR side, Abdul Rahman showed all those youngsters the way to do it with 50.8.

Next was the Macdonald Stewart at 600 yards. Gary Bowman won the TR with 50.7, with Jim Farrell heading the F Class with 49.3

The final shoot of the afternoon was the John Brick at 900 yards. Not to be outdone by Abdul, Deen Mohideen took the TR with 50.5, and another veteran Leo D'Amour the F Class with 48.4. Conditions in the afternoon were by no means easy.

And so to the Lt. Governor's. Fazal Mohideen leads the TR qualifiers with 199.25, a point ahead of his father Deen and last year's winner, Roger Romses. The top 12 are covered by 4 points, so if there a interesting conditions at 1000 yards tomorrow afternoon, it could be a close finish. 40 TR shooters will fire in the Final, with the preliminary cut off at 181.9. Cadet Decker Lowe is currently holding the 40th spot. In F Class, Bob Raymond has 190.17, three Vs ahead of Leo D'Amour. 10 F Class will shoot in the Final, a balanced mix of F(Open) and F(F-TR). Cut-offs for these are respectively 178.7 and 162.4.

The ORA Dinner at the Red Pine is about to get underway. I will report on that and on tomorrow's conclusion of the 132nd Prize Meeting on Sunday evening.

Day 1:

The first day of the 132nd ORA Annual Matches could not have had better weather. It was sunny and warm, but not too warm or too humid. There was a light breeze for most of the day, with some subtle changes that kept the shooters on their toes. Shooting at Borden under those conditions is really very enjoyable!

The entry this year is a little lower than usual in both the TR and F Class divisions. In the former, we unfortunately do not have the Cadet Bisley Team who were with us last year. In addition, the Smallbore Nationals have attracted away a number of our regular shooters. That is an unfortunate clash. As for F Class, a good number of people are down in Raton, New Mexico, first for the US National and then the World F Class Championships. Again the clash is regrettable, but we can only wish our Canadian Team and its Ontario members well in these challenging events. So, today we had just over 70 TR shooters, and a dozen or so F Class. A few more are joining in for the next two days for the Lt. Governor's Match.

Three individual matches were fired today: the Gibson at 300 yards, the Bankers' at 500 and the President's at 900. Scott Murray took the Gibson (TR) with 50.6, one V ahead of Scott McGinnis; in F Class Aaron Skewes had the only 50 with 3 Vs. The Bankers' (TR) has a tie for first place with Fazal Mohideen and Tony Betts both pulling in 50.8. Leo D'Amour won the F Class with 48.3, a V ahead of Kevin Laughlin. I should note that the F Class are firing on a reduced target, with a half sized V inside the normal (TR) V. This is a tight little centre to aim for. In the President's (TR), the winner was Bruce Bullock with 50.8, a couple of Vs ahead of Paul Tremblay. Jim Farrell won the F Class with 47.1.

Finally, the day's aggregate, now re-named the Art Grundy Aggregate in memory of our late good friend from Windsor, was won in the TR division by Fazal Mohideen with 149.17, with two other 149s. Aaron Skewes took the F Class with 143.8, a point ahead of Leo D'Amour.

At the end of the afternoon, 12 teams of four shot in the Long Range Coached Team Match at 1000 yards. I will have the results of that for you tomorrow.

Alliston is bracing itself for the Annual Potato Festival this weekend, which all adds to the fun. At Borden tomorrow, there will be four ranges, making up the first part of the Lt. Governor's The weather is forecast to stay fine all weekend. The annual ORA Dinner will be at the Red Pine Motel in the evening.

"The next Precision Match is now scheduled for Sunday August 25th at Mons Range. Please plan on arriving at 8am and head to the Trailer for Administration. DO NOT proceed to the Butts per our regular routine. The Service group will be shooting at that time. We will be shooting a full program that day and most likely be done about 5pm....everything else is per our normal procedure. I look forward to seeing you there and as always please advise me asap if you plan to attend."

Join us for a fun night of indoor shooting and support Canada's International Fullbore Teams. Mingle with Maple Leafs alumni, extra shooting available on the firearm of your choice. Food is included! See the attached form for registration and additional information.

Twelve manufacturers of the world's finest BINOCULARS & SPOTTING SCOPES will exhibit
and demonstrate their sports optics to birders and the general public on the lakefront at
Pelee Wings Nature Store, 636 Point Pelee Drive, Leamington, on the weekend of May 11th
& 12th. The event coincides with the "Point Pelee Festival of Birds" which sees hundreds
of thousands of birds and thousands of birders from around the world flock to Point Pelee
to enjoy one of the most phenomenal bird migrations on the North American continent
through-out the month of May.

Optics experts from these companies will be on hand to answer questions and to
demonstrate state of the art equipment to enjoy the sport of birding. The public can quiz
the experts on new binoculars and scopes, field test 100's of sports optics, and find out just
what they need to enjoy this exciting sport. Binoculars & Spotting Scopes are also enjoyed
for astronomy, travel, boating, hunting, target shooting, surveillance, and by waterfront
home-owners. Admission is free.

Bring the family to Point Pelee to enjoy the birds and the “Sports Optics Expo”! Pelee
Wings & the Optics Companies will donate $1,000. to a wildlife conservation cause after the
Expo.

Our May 5th Precision Practice is still scheduled for Amiens Range pending any last minute changes as usual. Please plan on being there for 7:30am latest for admin, target assignments and setup. We will be shooting Matches 60 thru 63 in a practice format so bring a minimum of 60 rounds for the day. As always bring your lunch and refreshments to eliminate any mid-day delays.

Depending on how many new shooters we have attend I will be asking for some of our regulars to help out properly introducing them to the discipline.

We will also be inviting shooters from the Service Rifle discipline to join us. Additional details will be provided on the 5th.

Finally, please let me know if you plan on attending so that I can have enough targets prepared for the day....and for the new to Precision, please familiarize yourself with Matches 60 thru 63 details, available on the ORA website.